Build A Rocket Boy, the developer of MindsEye, has reportedly let go a large number of employees its latest round of layoffs. Although the exact number is currently unknown, it’s “roughly 170 members,” according to Kotaku.
Many of the now- or soon-to-be former employees have shared the news on LinkedIn and Discord. If the 170 estimate proves to be accurate, that would leave Build A Rocket Boy with approximately 80 staff members left out of the 250 that were in place prior to the layoffs.
Former Rockstar Games executive Leslie Benzies founded Build A Rocket Boy in 2016, and his previous experience with the Grand Theft Auto franchise gave MindsEye a lot of hype heading into its release last year. However, MindsEye was one of the worst-reviewed games of 2025 and its poor reception led to layoffs shortly thereafter. Bizarrely, Build A Rocket Boy co-CEO Mark Gerhard shared his belief that a concerted effort to trash the game and corporate espionage were responsible for the game’s shortcomings.
In April, the IWGB Game Workers Union started a legal action on behalf of Build A Rocket Boy’s developers that accused the company of installing surveillance software on employees’ devices without their knowledge. Build A Rocket Boy’s devs previously shared an open letter that called out the company for its “unbearable” crunch time as well as a “lack of transparency and communication.”
Gerhard subsequently doubled down on his accusations of corporate espionage and indicated that an update for the game would feature characters based on former employees whom he believed were behind the alleged sabotage.
Although Build A Rocket Boy’s team laid out a roadmap to fix the MindsEye’s various issues, the company was hit with additional layoffs in March.
GameSpot has reached out to Build a Rocket Boy and will update this story if and when it responds.
